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Faculty of Science

School of Chemistry

Graduate Study

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Thesis

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• Are you ready to write your thesis?
• Format
• UNSW Requirements including the need to give at least 8 weeks notice of intention to submit a thesis
• Enrolment Fees
• Tips
• Temporary and Permanent Binding
• Corrections
• Library Copies
• Electronic Copies

Are you ready to write your thesis?

If your Completing Progress Review Colloquium / Annual Report were satisfactory and you have completed most (not necessarily all) of the experimental work, it is usually the right time to devote most of your energy to writing the thesis. You should do this after discussion with your supervisor. You are advised to prepare a comprehensive list of the Chapters, Section and Sub-section headings to guide you through the writing phase.

The Learning Centre provides assistance to students in writing the thesis. Please visit the web site of the learning centre for details.

Thesis Format

The thesis is typically 200 - 400 pages in length and it normally divides into the following sections:

• Title page
• Abstract
• Contents
• Introduction Chapter
• Experimental (Methods) Chapter
• Results and Discussion Chapters
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendices

Other sections that may be worth including are

• Glossary of Terms and Acronyms
• Publications and Acknowledgement.

It is not practical to prescribe specific formats for theses in a School such as ours where a diverse range of projects is undertaken. It is a good idea to examine the formats of successful earlier theses that have come out of your research group or ones undertaking similar work to your own. In any case it is best to seek your supervisor's advice prior to making a firm committment to a thesis structure.

Whichever style you choose, the thesis should divided into sections that can be easily cross-referenced in the text either by section numbers or page numbers (usually the former as these are not affected by pagination). All pages should be numbered consecutively, Figures and Tables must have their own running numbering scheme that is unambiguous. References to the literature must be numbered consecutively as they are encountered in the text.

Most students assemble their thesis with a word-processing program. If you are not skilled in this area you should either gain those skills prior to writing the thesis or employ a typist. Graphs and figures can be created independently and pasted (physically or electronically) in the text near the point where they are referred to.

You must observe the UNSW requirements (below) with regard to page size, margins and paper.

UNSW Requirements

The Guidelines (from the Postgraduate Board) for preparing and submitting a thesis for a higher degree as a PDF document. The university requires that the Library copy are 'Hard-cover' bound according to specific guidelines available via the link above (Chapter 5 of the PDF document). See also UNSW FAQ on thesis formatting.

You must submit 3 copies (PhD) or 2 copies (MSc) for examination and one copy for the University Library. An additional copy is required for the School of Chemistry library. Additional copies are according to your needs though it is customary to provide a bound copy to your supervisor and cosupervisor. It is essential that the library copies are fully corrected according to the examination process.

Enrolment and Fees

If you have finsihed all of your experimental work and are engaged only in writing the thesis you may apply to have your enrolment fees reduced. You will need a letter from your supervisor that confirms that you are not udertaking any experimental work nor is any planned in order to complete your thesis. The letter should be addressed to the registrar and provided to the Student Centre upon re-enrolment.

Tips

If you are going to word-process your own thesis, spend some time gaining the appropriate skills. This may range from reading the manual for your word processor, spreadsheet, graphing, structure drawing, and general graphics software.

Word-processing can present many problems. It is highly advantageous to use the Style functions that are available on most modern wordprocessors to set heading, caption, reference formats and apply these to text rather than relying on your memory of styles to apply manually.

Don't worry about pagination until the end. Then go through the thesis from beginning to end checking all page breaks.

Use a spell checker.

Use at least one technical proof-reader (e.g., another member of your group) and one non-technical proof reader (e.g., a friend or relative with excellent written English skills).

Give your supervisor a complete draft version of each chapter as it is written. Complete means with all figures, tables and references. Do not expect that your supervisor will correct your English. Expect that your supervisor will give you guidance on the scientific content of your thesis.

Organise your references with a bibliography program (e.g. EndNote). If this is not possible then be systematic with your references. It may be useful to precede all reference numbers in the text with a unique string (e.g., $$$) so that your can renumber references using the search and replace capability of your word processor.

Do not plagiarise. If you wish to extract text or figures from published sources then do so as an explicit quotation giving a full acknowledgement of the original publication. If you paraphrase information from other sources then an appropriate acknowledgement must be given.

Give 8 weeks notice of submission to the Registrar. You can download standard Notice of Submission Form in the Forms section of this site.

Temporary and Permanent Binding

Theses submitted for examination may be in temporary binding. Such binding must be sufficiently robust to allow the thesis to be examined. Usually the plastic - 'spiral' binding provided by the UNSW Stationery Stores on campus are sufficient. Temporary binding is a good idea if you are planning to reprint the thesis after any corrections that may be required by the examiners. You can then permanently bind the final copies. You are allowed to permanently bind the examination copies and correct them within that binding if required.

Corrections and Further Work

Corrections should be made to at least the 2 library copies of the thesis. Corrections should be made on the pages where the errors occur. This may be done by pasting in new pages, new lines etc. or by writing the corrections in neatly with a permanent black pen. Errata pages appended to the thesis are not appropriate and may lead to delays in the School recommending the award of the degree.

Library Copies

One copy (corrected) must be supplied to the Student centre after examination is completed and corections have been made. Another copy must be provided to the School (Director of Graduate Studies) for the School Library.

Electronic Copies

Ph.D. and Masters theses must also be submitted electronically (as PDF files) to the UNSW Library. Details are available at the Library Digital Theses Submission page.